The Food Trilogy
by Tolwen
Summary: Food, a common uniting factor with all humans, colonies and Earth Sphere alike. Written for the gw500 community, this takes a look at bonding while sharing food with others.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Okay, for clarification, this three part series was originally _Pickles and Toast_. But since I joined the gw500 community on livejournal I continued the food theme and somehow worked in the prompt. So now I have three somewhat connected, but equally independent stories. The prompt for this story was "keys". This isn't as much humorous as it is drabble, but I hope you enjoy it anyway.

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**Dog Food**

Trowa raised an eyebrow in surprise as he looked at the grocery list. After he told Heero he was going out to buy food and if there was anything in particular he wanted to write it down on the list before he left. Trowa didn't bother to read it until he actually got to the store.

He looked at it again to make sure he read it correctly. Yup, it still read _Chocolate Milk._ Trowa never would have guessed that Heero drank chocolate milk, but then again, he didn't know him that well at all. Even though they had been together for over a month, Heero had spent the majority of it unconscious. Not exactly the best way to get to know someone.

Once he memorized the list, Trowa stuffed it into his pocket and began what he personally dubbed the "scavenger hunt". Steaks for the lions, "green stuff" as the Manager so lovingly called vegetables, chicken stock for Catherine's strange concoction she called soup, coffee for himself; all the usual items were easily found. But where on earth would he find chocolate milk? He scoured the dairy section and found nothing. After several minutes staring up and down the shelves of dairy, he recalled that some people stuck a chocolate powder in milk to turn it into chocolate milk.

With this in mind, he headed toward the nearest aisle trying to figure out where canned powdered chocolate would be. Ten minutes and seven aisles later, he finally found the elusive chocolate powder. Greatly relieved that he could now leave the crowded market, Trowa headed toward the express lane. The cashier gave him a rather nasty look when he brought his items to the counter for having more than the allotted 12 items or less. However in Trowa's opinion, the vegetables all counted as one item, therefore reducing the number to about 8.

The cashier grudgingly rang him up anyway and told him the price. Trowa carefully counted out the change in his pocket and realized that he didn't have enough to cover all it. Instead of leaving the troublesome chocolate and deeming it too frivolous to bother, Trowa glumly put the coffee aside. He could live without it for a week.

Finally finished with the groceries, Trowa headed back to the circus. Heero must have heard him coming, because just as he was fumbling to get his keys out of his pocket while holding the groceries, the door swung open.

"You look like you could use a hand," Heero said and grabbed one of the bags.

Trowa looked up in surprise. "Don't over-exert yourself. You're still very weak," he cautioned.

Heero grunted and said, "I'll be alright. I'm getting better everyday thanks to you. The least I can do is set some bags on a table." He then began to rummage through the bags looking to see if his requested item was there. Upon finding the chocolate powder, his eyes gained a satisfied glint to them and he headed for the refrigerator.

"You hungry?" Heero asked as he busily poured a glass of milk and stirred in the chocolate.

"Not really. And since it won't be long till the next meal, you might not want to eat something heavy."

Heero grabbed a bowl and a box of cereal. "This is just a snack."

Then to Trowa's amazement, Heero poured the chocolate milk over the cereal.

"That looks like dog food," Trowa said.

"And darn good dog food it is," Heero said, munching contentedly if not happily. "I don't like plain white milk. Oh, and your sister brought something for you." He motioned with his head toward the fridge.

Curious, Trowa walked over and opened the refrigerator door. There on the bottom shelf stood a cup of iced mocha.

_**Fin**_

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**A/N: **The inspiration for this is my dad. He does not like white milk and instead eats his cereal with chocolate milk. When my mother first witnessed this she said it looked like dog food, hence the title and Trowa's reaction. Oddly enough this strange taste for chocolate milk and cereal has been passed down to me, although I happen to love regular 2 percent quite well.


	2. Chapter 2

**Pickles and Toast**

**A/N: **This is the only part that was not written for gw500. I thought of this while having a conversation with my mother and, of course, eating pickles and toast. Oh, and I forgot the disclaimer to the first chapter, sorry. So here it is:

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing. Plain and Simple.**

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"No. Absolutely not."

"Aw, come on, just try it. It's really good!"

Duo shook his head. "Contrary to popular belief, I am not a human garbage can. I happen to like the finer points of culinary art. And, quite frankly, I'm surprised you're even eating it, let alone suggesting I try it."

Quatre frowned as he held out the food in question to his fellow pilot. "Well contrary to popular belief, I don't only drink tea and eat 'rich people' food. I happen to like the common man's cuisine quite well."

"Well excuse me for making assumptions," Duo said sarcastically.

While the cafeteria aboard the Peacemillion was open and well stocked, there was no one to cook the food or serve it, so it was everyman for himself. Quatre had been the first person to try experimenting with various food groups and was now trying to coax Duo into sampling one of his concoctions.

Trowa walked into the kitchen just in time to see Duo flat out refuse Quatre's culinary invention.

"Trowa, could you please talk your buddy into eating something sensible?" Duo jokingly said to Trowa.

"Well, seeing as how you've spent more time with him than I have, I think you're more qualified for that title." He looked over at the plate that held questionable item. "What is it?" he asked Quatre.

"Pickles on toast. It's really good, you should try it," Quatre said with unbridled enthusiasm.

Trowa nodded in approval and took the plate. He held up a peace of toast and bit into it, chewed methodically and swallowed. "You should butter the toast next time, Quatre," he said, taking another bite.

Duo stared at him. "You actually ate it? Trowa, don't tell me you like that stuff!"

Trowa stared at him with humor dancing in eyes. "You of all people should what it's like to have to live from meal to meal. With the mercenaries, it was no different. You learn to make do with what's available, and every once in awhile, experiment." He took a rather large bite for emphasis.

"Yeah, you're right, but I don't recall a jar of pickles and toast lying around," Duo said, half pouting. Not about to be outdone by a guy who had recently recovered from amnesia he suddenly turned to Quatre. "Make some for me too!" he declared.

Quatre grinned in delight and quickly prepared two slices of toast for Duo and handed him the plate. Duo carefully picked up a slice and bit in. He chewed for a little before suddenly stopping, eyes widening in shock. "I-ifs goo!" he exclaimed with his mouth still full and giving everyone a lovely view of chewed up glob inside his mouth. He swallowed and said, "It's good! I have to hand it to you Quatre, when it comes to food experimentation, you're a natural. Someday I'll make you my special Peanut Butter and Doritos Sandwich!"

Quatre smiled. "Sounds like fun."

Just then, WuFei walked in. "What are you guys doing in here? I'm sure you have better things to do than hanging around in a kitchen," he said.

"We're just fixing a little snack. Want some?" Quatre asked. "I made pickles and toast."

"Are the pickles the sweet kind? I can't stand that dill stuff," WuFei answered.

Duo just stared at him. "Not you too, WuFei! Man I must have really missed out if all you guys know about this snack and I don't."

"Well when you're living by yourself with nothing in the fridge and no one to cook for you, you learn to be very creative with your food," he said with a sly smile on his face.

Duo's eyes suddenly lit up like Christmas tree lights. He quickly went over to the cupboards and rummaged through them until he found the jar he was searching for. He grabbed a plate and stuck the contents of the jar on it and carefully sliced them to look like oddly shaped pickles and then put them on leftover toast that Quatre had prepared. "Hey, WuFei, have you seen Heero around?" he asked.

"Yeah, he was helping Noin with systems maintenance. Why?"

"I'll just give him a little snack."

Quatre grabbed the jar and looked at the label. He gasped when he saw what was printed on the jar. "B-But Duo, that's—"

Duo silenced him. "I know," he said, grinning mischievously before running off with his "snack".

Every one turned to look at the label. It read: _Jalapeño Peppers_.

_**Fin**_


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** The last of the Food Trilogy. I have never written anything on Zechs and Noin so I decided to give it a try. This is set right after Endless Waltz, when they are flying off to start the Mars Terraforming Project. Hope you enjoy.

**Disclaimer: Same as the last chapter. I don't own it. (But boy, I wish I did.)**

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**Bacon, Egg, and Pickles**

Zechs woke up to the smell of something burning. And since he was currently in a small spaceship headed for Mars, anything burning usually meant something was really, _really_ wrong. He jumped out of bed and followed his nose to locate the source of the smell. As crazy as it seemed, the charred odor appeared to be coming from the kitchen.

Mentally preparing himself for the worst, he opened the door to the kitchen and…was greeted to the sight of Noin cheerfully cooking. What she was cooking, he really couldn't tell. He took a guess that one of the pans on the stove held bacon, and judging by the way Noin was busy scrambling something in the other pan, she had to be making eggs as well.

Zechs soon discovered that the burnt smell was coming from slices of bread that had been mercilessly thrown into the depths of a hell called a toaster. They were so black and dry that he had a feeling that if someone bit into it, it would immediately turn into a fine black powder. And was she sticking _pickles_ on the pseudo-toast?

As if the pickles and toast wasn't a strange combo already, she took a few slices of bacon and some of the eggs and added it to the pickles and toast to make a sandwich.

"Noin, what on Earth Sphere is that?"

"Zechs, I didn't hear you come in!" she exclaimed, startled at the sudden intrusion. "Did you have a good nap?"

"It was fine until my nose woke me up. I thought you were going to man the controls?"

Noin grinned sheepishly. "I got hungry and set it on autopilot while I made a snack."

"I see. But just what kind of snack are you making?" he persisted.

He was answered by a soft chuckle. "Oh, this? Just an improved version of a snack I was introduced to by those boys with the Gundams. While on the Peacemillion the boys got bored and decided to make pickles and toast. At the time Heero was helping me with systems maintenance and Duo came to bring him a sampling of the concoction, except that Duo replaced the pickles with jalapeños. You can imagine how that went."

Zechs had a rough idea of 01's reaction and chuckled at the thought. It probably included his infamous death glare and various threats of death. Or he could have easily recognized the jalapeños and somehow force it down 02's throat instead. Either way, it was sure to be comical. "I'm sorry I missed it. That sounds very entertaining," he said.

"Oh it was. I was—am still—sad that you weren't there to see it," Noin said quietly.

"Noin…" he couldn't say anything. There was nothing to say.

But she quickly brightened. "Well, you're here now, so there's no use trying to get over a burned bridge." She finished her sandwich and went back to the control room. As she headed out the door she said, "You might want to enlist the services of a comb. The "bed head" look doesn't become you."

Zechs took her advice to heart and headed for the bathroom and the comb. He looked in the mirror and was surprised at just how ridiculous his hair looked; the curse of sleeping long hair without restraining it.

He was glad Noin pointed it out for him. That's how she always was, his ever-helpful right hand man. And yet, when she needed him, wasn't there for her and that would always haunt him. But she stuck it out for him till the end, something no one had ever done for him. She even risked her own life for him. Why, he would never know, but he was grateful to her, more than grateful. That was why he loved her.

_**Fin**_

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**A/N: **Well, that was it. I hope you liked it. For fans of _Wings_, I am currently working on fiction to present to you; however, it will be a prequel of sorts. I actually have 2 chapters written and in the process of chapter three. I won't post them until I have completed chapter 3 though. Why? To motivate me to not abandon it. Until next time. Mission Complete.


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